Are You Tempted To Quit?? Don’t Do It!

In the movie, Kung Fu Panda, Po comes to Master Oogway for advice. He is on the brink of quitting! His fellow students ridicule him; his instructor despises him. They set him up for failure! Becoming a master was harder than he thought!! Here is his conversation with the master.

Po: Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles.Oogway: Quit, don’t quit? Noodles, don’t noodles? You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the “present.”

Have you ever felt like Po? Maybe you feel that your circumstances are setting you up for failure. The biggest challenge anyone faces when working toward a specific goal is the temptation to give up when the going gets tough.

Here are 5 of the 10 biggest reasons people give up.

1. They are exhausted! When Po seeks Master Oogway, he is tired from training that seems to be getting him nowhere. When we are facing challenges, especially financial challenges, we can spend so much time trying to fix our situation that we neglect taking care of the other aspects of our lives that need attention for us to work our way out of our situation.

2. They don’t have a powerful enough “Why”. Po lost sight of his passion to become the Dragon Warrior, and he lost his drive. What got you started down this path in the first place? Why is that important to you? Identifying your purpose will crowd your doubts out of your mind.

3. They don’t see meaningful results right away. Po didn’t see immediate results for all his hard work and he was discouraged. When we don’t see immediate return for our effort, it’s easy to say, “Well, this isn’t working.” Master sales trainer, Eric Lofholm, says, “Everything counts.” Trust that the actions you take today are planting the seeds for tomorrow’s harvest. Be persistent.

4. They don’t believe in what they’re doing. Po thought that learning kung fu was really cool. When he realized that he had a purpose bigger than himself to become the Dragon Warrior, his whole attitude toward training changed. Sometimes we start out because an idea is cool. But that’s not enough to take us through the tough times. Find your reason that is bigger than you, and your belief will crowd out the temptation to quit.

5. They get distracted. Remember Po’s distraction? It was food! This is the “Shiny Object” syndrome. Something new and exciting is presented and we think, “That’s the golden ticket.” That can be the very thing that drains your energy, convincing you to give up. Get back on track. Get your rest. Connect with your why! With patience you will see results.

Are you ready to give up? If so, you are not alone. In my next blog, I will talk about how to tackle each of these energy suckers, but in the meantime, let’s take Master Oogway’s advice. “You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the ‘present.’ ”

Focus on the present moment, and do the next thing. Don’t let any challenge beat you!

What do you do when you want to quit? Comment below and I may include them in my next post!